Solving obesity crisis: Strawberries in parking lots

By Darrin Nordahl, Special to CNN

Updated 1228 GMT (2028 HKT) July 12, 2013

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Photos:Fresh, free public produce

Fresh, free public produce – City official Larry Phillips and author and community activist Darrin Nordahl plant an apple tree in a street median in Seattle. The city will soon be home to America's first garden oasis.

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Photos:Fresh, free public produce

Fresh, free public produce – Nordahl speaks to Seattle residents about the benefits of their public produce project. Free, readily available public produce holds the key to getting healthy again, he says.

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Photos:Fresh, free public produce

Fresh, free public produce – Fellow community activists Laura Kalina (left), Elaine Sedgeman (right) and Nordahl have been instrumental in creating the Kamloops Public Produce Project in British Columbia, Canada.

Fresh, free public produce – Nordahl tends corn outside the parking office in Davenport, Iowa. The city has also planted under-utilized parking spaces in the downtown with fruits and vegetables, free for anyone to harvest.

Or maybe you've witnessed a couple of plum and pear trees filled with ripe fruit, wedged in that public zone between the sidewalk and the curb. Or a lone apple tree in the corner of your neighborhood park. These fruit trees were likely planted by citizens in an effort to bring fresh, free produce to their community brethren.

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In cities throughout the world, citizens are facing rising costs for fresh produce and declining health from the Western diet, characterized by energy dense, nutrient poor fast foods. It is now cheaper to gorge oneself on Big Macs and Whoppers than it is zucchini and tomatoes.

In case you haven't heard, instances of obesity and type 2 diabetes have skyrocketed throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, paralleling the prevalence of prepackaged, processed foods in our diet. Just two decades ago, not a single state in America reported a prevalence of obesity greater than 15% of its adult population. Today, not a single state can make that claim. According to the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three Americans are obese today. And only 25% of adults consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables.

Our children's health is at stake, too. The CDC also reports that in many communities, half of the pediatric diabetes cases are type 2 (a disease stemming from a poor diet). Not too long ago, the total number of pediatric type 2 diabetes cases was nil.

So what does the CDC recommend to halt our plummeting health? More exercise, fruits and vegetables. It's that simple. By making fresh, free produce as plentiful and accessible as cheap fast food, we can get healthy again. And communities across America are digging in to do just that.

Seattle city officials are about to break ground this summer for what they are calling America's first public food oasis. In a city where over 2,000 people are on a waiting list for a community garden plot, municipal leaders are seeking ways to bring more fresh, locally grown produce to the public.

So city officials came up with an idea for a food forest. They will plant a seven-acre public park with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts that will rival any produce market. The menu of foods includes yuzu citrus, guava, honeyberries, and persimmon; standard fruits like apples, pears, raspberries and blueberries; nut trees popping with walnuts and chestnuts; and a variety of culinary herbs.

Years before Seattle cultivated their idea for a food forest, city planners in Provo, Utah, have been planting public crops outside City Hall. Faced with a limited maintenance budget, city officials decided they couldn't afford to plant and maintain the planters that welcomed citizens to City Hall. So city planners decided they would plant the grounds themselves. Only they chose pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, beets, tomatoes and potatoes as their plants. Their philosophy is simple: come to City Hall to pay your parking ticket, leave with a fresh, vine ripened tomato.

Public produce is not only taking root throughout America, but in Canada as well. Kamloops, British Columbia instituted their first public produce garden smack in the middle of downtown along the bustling Victoria Street. It was a huge success, and they've relocated to a bigger plot this season. In Calgary, the Forestry Department is planting orchards in neighborhood parks as part of a strategy to bring fresh fruit to neighborhood kids and families. Todmorden, West Yorkshire in the U.K. infuses all its public spaces -- parks and town squares, sidewalks and street medians, parking lots and even graveyards -- with fruits and vegetables, free to all.

But is providing fresh free produce to the people the role of local government? As long as municipal policymakers strive to reduce social inequity and increase the quality of life for their citizens, I think it is. Access to healthy, low cost food helps assure the health, safety, and welfare of citizens every bit as much as other services city governments provide.

Today, food plays a significant role in the health and wealth of communities. One in four San Franciscans cannot afford all the food they need, according to the San Francisco Food Bank. Former Portland Mayor San Adams noted that his city has one of the highest populations of hungry and malnourished citizens in the United States. Chicago's Planning Department enacted a local food policy "Eat Well, Live Healthy," to help bolster the diet and food education of Chicagoans.

These cities aren't waiting for programs and policies from the federal government. They need action now; and City Hall acts faster than Capitol Hill. Besides, the most transformative seeds of change must first be sown at home.

"Okay," you say, "But what if someone comes and picks all the ripe tomatoes? Or the pears?"

That could very well happen. And if it does, I'd say you have a successful public produce garden.